Category Archives: GDP

According to figures released by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), the combined income of San Jose, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale in California’s Silicon Valley is $235 billion. This is roughly equal to the GDP of Ireland ($238 billion) and greater than the economies of Finland, Portugal and Greece. While nonurban areas are still slow to come back on line after the recession, many urban areas are performing extremely well. In fact, impressive as it is, the greater San Jose metropolitan area comes in at 15th in overall income compared to other American cities.

Technology giants Apple and Google collectively employ almost 40,000 people in the South Bay Area and can be credited with much of the income generated. It is important to remember, however, that other tech firms including Intel, Cisco, Adobe, Hewlett Packard, Advanced Micro Devices, and Lockheed Martin continue to contribute to the South Bay’s economy. Not to mention the engineering firms like, Salas O’Brien Engineering and URS Corporation, who benefit from the area’s continued growth.

If the greater San Jose metropolitan area was its own country, it would rank 44th in the world. This may pale in comparison to the New York metropolitan area, which would be the 10th largest economy in the world, but it is impressive nonetheless. In fact, four of the largest grossing metropolitan areas in the United States are located in California, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose and San Diego. The combined GDP of these areas is $1,819 billion dollars.